According to HR experts, while the salary hikes of CEO and top executives could range between zero to five pc, for the middle and lower management it is expected to be around eight to 10 pc.

Tough times call for tough measures. As India Inc tightens its belt, top executives are likely to feel the pinch, getting lesser salary hikes than mid and lower management employees.

According to HR experts, while the salary hikes of CEO and top executives could range between zero to five per cent, for the middle and lower management it is expected to be around eight to 10 per cent.

"Though at the company level, we have thought of hiking about 8 per cent, the CEO pay is going to increase by only 5 per cent this year," Imperial Hotels Corporate Director Human Resource Sanjeev Sethi told PTI.

Quite a severe drop, considering the fact that the hospitality sector saw an increase of around 20 to 25 per cent in the salaries of Chief Executives last year.

Similarly, Telecom major Bharti Airtel's top management could also be getting lesser hikes this year.

"Last year the Chief Executive pay was increased by nearly 14 per cent which is expected to be much less this year," said a reliable source from Bharti Airtel.

Experts say for the mid and lower level employees salary hikes could still be better in terms of percentage jump, which could range from 8-10 per cent.